In light of revelations regarding former national security adviser Mike Flynn’s interactions with the Russian government, commentators are criticizing conservatives for raising concerns about the media leaks that brought them to light.
The implication is that you must choose one or the other. You’re either concerned about the Russian connections or you’re distracting from them by questioning all of the leaking coming out of the intelligence agencies.
It is entirely possible to be concerned both about the media leaks and about growing evidence regarding the administration’s potential connections to the Russian government.
The possibility that “U.S. officials entrusted with our most sensitive secrets would selectively disclose them to undermine the White House,” as Eli Lake worded it, is not unserious and deserves our attention.
It may well be true that particular people are leveraging those reasonable concerns about leaks in an effort to distract from the reasonable questions about Russia. And it may also be true that the former is a higher priority than the latter.
But that does not mean it’s nothing that more than a cop-out to also raise concerns about the sensitive information that’s made its way to the press in recent weeks.
If we throw the baby out with the bathwater and brush those concerns aside because some are choosing to exploit them as a deflection tool, they will not be addressed.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
